Lost volunteer

“There were a lot of winding roads, with beautiful views!” says the mother of Ylva radiantly, and Ylva herself translates: “We were lost. The GPS said we were already there, but we were not. And I didn’t recognize it anymore, close to here … how do you say that again … Pudrògauwng? ”

“Very well, great”, I laugh, “and this is a very positive way to get lost. There are plenty of people who get totally grumpy because of that. ”

“Why should we be grumpy about that?” Wies asks in astonishment, “it’s a beautiful landscape, plenty of time, and we’re sure we’ll get there in the end.”

“Lost” volunteer Ylva is back. This time as a guest, together with her mother

The other times she was here to help during the summer, and I have very good memories of that.

The first time I lay flat on my back – literally

The volunteer team that was there at the time was my salvation. I caught a nervous-back-problem a few months before the high season. Probably from lifting heavy crates of tiles, because mosaic is a nice art form, but it’s also hard labour.

And I always lifted like: “One, two, three …. and go !! “with a hard tug to lift that crate off the ground. You should not do exactly that. Since then I always say to a heavy thing (a full gas bottle or something): “Eh-eh! I never do it with a hard tug! “, and then I’d divide the tiles over 2 boxes for example.

Once you have felt the pain of a pinched nerve between your spine, you will not forget that any time soon!

That team of volunteers saved the summer of 2015

Tribute to Ylva, Roos, Judith, Barthe and Jesse! And son Broes, of course, but that develops more and more like rock in the surf. Judith and Ylva showed a clear predisposition to domestic work. They may not like it to read, because it is not tough, but I think there is an enormous undervaluation for domestic work.

Household is part of everyone’s life. And here we have a huge household

The issue of organizing and planning well. Everything in place, so you can blindly grab. Juniors often do not have that routine, nor do they see the point of it. I clearly see that. I have regularly searched half the village for something that was not in place, and I can become quite grumpy again.

Then I wouldn’t be able to stay as radiant as the lost ladies mentioned above with their flexible attitude!

We moved here in 2000 from Rotterdam, Holland to the Termas-da-Azenha, Portugal. A big step, especially with two small children. We are busy to rebuild one of portugals cultural heirlooms: Termas-da-Azenha, an old spa which has been turned into several holiday homes, rooms and campsites, with a lots of fun things to do: swimming pool, indoor and outdoor games like pingpong, petanque and mini golf, a FancyDressingRoom and a small café. You’ll find mosaics and paintings everywhere.

The old bathhouse is going to be a museum, where you can see how things have changed. Since 2018 we call ourselves the first B&B&B in the world – Bed & Breakfast & Bathrobes. You can buy a home-made unique bathrobe/housecoat with us.

Each week a little blog about what is happening around us. An easy read. A few minutes in another world. A little about what it going on in Portugal. If you plan your holiday to Portugal, it might be a nice preparation. We have some nice special offers on our site.